Quality

Quality and quality assurance is a strong focus across the College. It supports quality development, continuous improvement and also monitors the quality of service offered by the College.

Feedback & Complaints

If you have been impressed with the attitude and approach taken by a member of staff or a service at North East Scotland College, whether relating to teaching or support service, please let us know. Our Feedback & Complaint Forms and Policies are available in the Resources section on this page.

We also realise that things don’t always go the way we want them to, and sometimes they can go wrong. However, the College is committed to ensuring that everyone receives the best possible service and we want to respond to any problems quickly so that we can improve our services as soon as possible.

We expect all staff to be responsive to any difficulties encountered by students and other clients of the College. In particular we expect teaching staff to develop a classroom atmosphere in which you can express your views openly and in which problems can be dealt with directly and immediately.

However, if anyone finds cause for complaint with any aspect of the service we offer you, please tell us by whatever means is most convenient e.g. complaints form, telephone, letter, email, face to face or through the website. Of course we will regret the fact that we have been unable to meet your needs fully, but we also welcome the opportunity to investigate the problem, respond to you, and remedy any problems with our service. As a first stage (if you are a student) you should, if possible, report the problem to your lecturer or academic tutor as they may be able to solve your problem quickly. If they cannot help you, please complete a complaints form. These forms are available on paper, at each College Centre Reception Office, in various feedback boxes across the campuses and on the College website. If you use the paper form please leave it in the box provided.

We take all complaints seriously and deal with them fairly. Complaints will be logged by the Quality team on receipt and a response will be provided to most complaints within 5 working days, although those which require a longer investigation will be acknowledged initially and a response provided within 20 working days. The College will ensure that all complaints are treated in a confidential manner. To ensure that you are happy with the complaints process, you will be sent a satisfaction questionnaire within 3 weeks of receiving your response.

North East Scotland College is an equal opportunities college therefore all complaints are administered in compliance with the Data Protection Act and Freedom of Information Act.

Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

After we have fully investigated, if you are still dissatisfied with our decision or the way we dealt with your complaint, you can ask the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) or the Scottish Qualifications Agency (SQA) (or other awarding body) to look at it. For qualifications that are regulated, if you remain dissatisfied with the way the awarding body has handled your complaint then you may complain to the qualifications regulator, SQA Accreditation by email: accreditation@sqa.org.uk.

The SPSO cannot normally look at:

  • a complaint that has not completed our complaints procedure (so please make sure it has done so before contacting the SPSO)
  • events that happened, or that you became aware of, more than a year ago
  • a matter that has been or is being considered in court.

The SPSO’s contact details are:
By post: Freepost SPSO (that is all you need to write on the envelope and NO stamp is required)
Freephone 0800 377 7330
Online contact form: www.spso.org.uk/contact-form

Key Performance Indicators

Key Performance Indicators help colleges evaluate their own performance both over time and against other similar colleges thereby supporting a wider quality improvement agenda. The following reports summarise the results for those students enrolled on courses leading to recognised qualifications at North East Scotland College.

Assessment and Verification

Evaluative Report & Enhancement Plan

‘How good is our college?’ provides a structure for evaluation and enhancement which colleges with their stakeholders use to identify what is working well and what needs to improve. It is designed to support collaborative evaluation internally and with external stakeholders who contribute to the learning experience.

The Framework is based on four high-level principles:

  • leadership and quality culture;
  • delivery of learning and services to support learning;
  • outcomes and impact; and
  • capacity for improvement.

Under the Framework, the College is required to produce an annual Evaluative Report & Enhancement Plan. This is the last published Evaluative Report & Enhancement Plan.